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The first grand tour of the season is about to start. Who are the favorites and which outsiders should we keep an eye on? ProCyclingStats will take a closer look at some of the GC favorites with a series of statistics. We start off with João Almeida, the highest placed competitor in the GC ranking.

Table 1. GC ranking competitors

Analysis

It will be the third start for Almeida in the Giro. In 2020 he finished 4th and last year he came in 6th. With 1744 points scored last year, Almeida is definitely one of the best riders in the peloton. This year, he has already accumulated a total of 463 points. However, he did not win a final GC this year.

Table 2. Result per edition

Table 3. Points per season

Table 4. Last GC results

Looking at his third week performance in grand tours, we know he has the ability to gain positions after two weeks of racing, which is essential in any grand tour as the most uphill kilometers are often put in the third week.

Table 5. Third week GT historical performance for rider

main strengths

Where his teammate Tadej Pogačar also scores in one day races, Almeida has his specialty clearly set to time trials and final GCs. In 14 out of 19 time trial starts in professional races, he finished in the top-10. Also, in 75% of stage races he started, he finished top-10. This is the highest ratio of all Giro favorites. This is one of the major strengths of João Almeida; his constant high level performance.

Table 6. Results per GC/TT/Onedayraces

Table 7. GC Top10% per GC favorite in professional races (2.1 and higher)

Charting the number of time trial points scored in the past 36 months for the GC favorites, it is clear that Almeida has a great opportunity to take time on his rivals in the two time trials.

Table 8. Time trial points last 3 years